


Lab Rats

by Abiggaynerd



Series: Lab Rats [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Angst, Dont worry this'll have a happy ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Medical Experimentation, Michael isn't the bad guy in this by the way!!! He's another captive, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Surgery, blood drawing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-19 03:06:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11304432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abiggaynerd/pseuds/Abiggaynerd
Summary: Jeremy gets kidnapped and is used for experimentation.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I havent written something this dark in like.... ever
> 
> Dont read if medical stuff triggers you!!

Jeremy woke up, to a pounding pain in his head and- pretty much his whole body, actually. He attempted to sit up, but fell back down.

"Hey, hey, don't move," a soothing voice told him. "Are you okay?"

Jeremy forced his eyes to focus on the owner of the voice. It was a very attractive guy, who looked to be around his age. He was wearing a hospital gown, and a pair of headphones were wrapped around his neck.

He gasped when Jeremy looked him in the eyes, but quickly composed himself.

"Hi," the guy said. "My name is Michael."

"Jeremy." His throat hurt. It was so dry. Michael smiled at him.

Jeremy blinked slowly. He realized he had no idea where he was, or how he got there. The room looked almost like a hospital room or a prison cell, white with hard florescent lighting. It was a simple square, with two small cots, a toilet, a sink, and a nightstand. There was a camera on the ceiling, and a speaker. The door is what really caught Jeremy's attention though- it was heavy, steel. There was something that looked like a large mail slot on the bottom, and no handles or doorknobs whatsoever.

Jeremy remembered he was afraid.

"Where am I," Jeremy said, speaking through his painfully dry throat. "Wha happened?"

"Um... I don't know." Michael smiled apologetically. "They just threw you in a while ago, and I put you on the bed."

"Them? How long you been here?" Jeremy started coughing. Michael panicked a little bit and grabbed him a bottle of water from the nightstand, and helped him drink.

"Um... I don't know."

Jeremy choked on the water, sending Michael into more of a frenzy. "What- what's going on? Why am I here!!"

Michael set down the bottle and bit his lip. "Um... Well I guess it's pretty much a research thing? I'm the control, they say..." He smiles at Jeremy again. "But it's pretty cool that I have a roommate now!! I've been alone for.... a while."

Jeremy stared at Michael.

Michael sighed. "Look, I know you're confused but I really don't want to upset you more... Can this wait?"

Jeremy glared at Michael.

Michael sighed. "You were kidnapped and now you're a lab rat for the scientists who work here."

Jeremy began to hyperventilate.

He forced himself to remember what had happened.

" _Jeremy Heere," said a tall man in a suit. He looked at Jeremy, dazed on the ground after being tazed, then at some files in his hands. "Yes, you're the one."_

_The two men with him grabbed Jeremy and shoved him in an expensive looking car's trunk. Jeremy tried to scream, but all he could manage in his terrified state was a whimper._

_A rag was put over his nose, and then it was dark._

"-remy! Jeremy! Hey, hey buddy, it's alright-"

Michael looked at Jeremy, hands hovering over him, unsure if he should touch him or not.

"I wanna go home," Jeremy wailed. "What are they gonna do to me??"

"I- I don't know. B- but it'll be okay!" Michael smiled nervously. "Since you're here with me!"

Jeremy shoved Michael away from him.

"Why should I trust you?? For all I know you're just one of my kidnappers!!"

Michael's face crumpled, but he backed away to give Jeremy more space. He stared at the floor.

"I- I'm not. I've been alone for so long I don't even know what to do, I'm sorry..."

Michael thought for a moment. Jeremy tried to calm down.

Michael slowly, carefully took off his headphones, and took an iPod from his pocket. He held them out to Jeremy.

"You can- you can use this. If you're careful."

Jeremy sniffled, staring at the peace offerings. He took them, slowly. Michael let out a little pained whine, but he was clearly trying to hide it. It was obviously very hard for him, and Jeremy was grateful. Jeremy's fear of Michael began to melt away.

"Please be- please don't break them," Michael said, watching Jeremy like a hawk. Or, rather, the precious goods Jeremy was holding.

"Where did you get this?"

"They gave it to me after a suicide attempt." Michael gave a thumbs up and a wobbly smile.

"O- oh."

Jeremy turned on the iPod. It was an older version, with no internet connection. He began to go through the music. There was like, a shitton. There had to be like, a billion songs on there.

But favorited and at the very top of everything, was a playlist called "Video game music". He found it full of various video game soundtracks, including the soundtrack to-

"Apocalypse of the damned!!"

Michael's eyes lit up. "You know that game?"

"Uh, duh, it's like the best video game of all time!!"

Michael snorted. "Uh, no. Obviously that's pac-man."

And just like that, Jeremy trusted Michael.

 

\---

 

Jeremy had fallen back to sleep, listening to Michael's iPod, when the door to the room opened. He awoke immediately. Michael also snapped to attention.

It was someone wearing scrubs, and a medical mask. They came in without so much as a greeting, and pushed in a little cart.

Jeremy's heart dropped when he saw the contents of the cart- needles and tubes. He was frozen on his bed, staring at the nurse.

"Arm."

"Wha-what?"

The nurse rolled their eyes, and extended their hand. "Arm. Give me your arm."

Jeremy processed what they wanted to do to him. He scrambled back, pressing against the wall.

"No! No, I hate needles, I don't want my blood taken!" Jeremy said, the waves of a panic attack coming in. "Please don't hurt me!"

"You are making this a lot harder than this has to be," the nurse said, tapping their foot in irritation. "You will comply unless you wish to be restrained."

Michael looked at the nurse, then at Jeremy, and jumped onto the bed.

"No, no, he'll be good!" Michael said quickly, wrapping Jeremy in an embrace. "He's just scared."

"I've never had my blood drawn before!" Jeremy said, trying to push Michael off of him. "Please don't make me!"

"I'm sorry Jeremy," Michael said quietly, "I'll be here the whole time. You don't have to look."

Jeremy looked into Michael's eyes, and upon fully realizing the helpless situation he was in, he relaxed his body and let out a shuddery, watery sob. Michael held him a bit tighter, blocking Jeremy's view of his arm.

The nurse began to fumble around with their tools. Jeremy felt a rough wipe wash his arm quickly, and an elastic band was tied around his arm. The nurse poked his arm a few times.

"They're gonna put it in now, Jeremy," Michael said soothingly. "One, two, three-"

Jeremy let out another cry as the needle went into his skin. He gripped onto Michael with his free hand.

"It's coming out so fast!" said Michael. "You're doing so well!" To the nurse, Michael said, "How many vials today?"

"Ten," was the curt response.

"TEN?? There's no way they need that much! Th-"

Jeremy whimpered, his eyes shut so tightly they hurt.

"Oh, oh no, Jeremy, it's okay. You can do this. See? We're already on vial three, you're doing so well. I'm so proud of you. Oh! That's four! We're almost halfway through!"

Jeremy felt the nurse's fingers adjusting the needle. He forced himself to stay still. His whole body was hurting from the sheer strain of his anxiety.

"This is the last vial!"

Jeremy felt the nurse take off the rubber band, and take out the needle.

"It's done?" Jeremy asked, shaky.

"Yep! All done!"

"Hold this," said the nurse, pressing a wad of cotton on Jeremy's arm and transferring the hold to Michael.

"It's over?" Jeremy asked, as Michael began to pull away.

"Yep! It's all over! You did so well, I'm so proud of you!"

Jeremy carefully opened his eyes, to see Michael smiling gently at him. The nurse put a wad of tape over the cotton, and began fiddling with their cart again. Jeremy looked back at Michael quickly. He didn't want to see his own blood in the vials.

"Is that it?" Michael asked the nurse. The nurse nodded.

"For now, yeah," the nurse said, and began pushing the cart out again. They spoke to someone on a walkie-talkie, and the door opened and closed behind them.

Michael looked after them for a moment, before turning his attention fully to Jeremy.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked, concern written all over his face. "I'm sorry I held you down- they would've done a lot worse to you if I hadn't..."

Jeremy shook his head. "No, it's... It helped a lot. Thank you."

Relief flooded Michael's features. "How are you feeling? Dizzy? There are some crackers in the nightstand, if you want them, a bottle of water-"

Jeremy let Michael fuss over him, as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Somehow, he now trusted Michael more than anyone else in the entire world.

 

\---

 

Jeremy got used to the routine of life with Michael quickly. Wake up, eat, exercise while a voice over a loudspeaker tells you what to do, shower, lunch, dinner, sleep.

To Jeremy's surprise, no one else ever actually showed up- everything was totally mechanical. Put dirty hospital gown into a hole in the wall, clean one comes out the other. Shower time? A hidden door in the wall opens and they showered in there.

Surprisingly, Jeremy didn't mind it that much. Since it was with Michael.

"Let's cuddle!" Michael said, around a week after Jeremy had come. He clapped his hands together. "I am so FUCKING touch starved! Holy shit!!"

"Isn't that kinda gay?" Jeremy protested, but Michael was already twisted around him like a pretzel.

"I haven't touched another human being in like, years," said Michael, nuzzling into Jeremy's side. Jeremy's face felt so hot, he wondered if it would melt. Then he processed what Michael had said.

"Wait- years??"

Michael glanced up at him. "Yeah. And even before I came here, my parents were never... um... Touchy people."

The matter-of-fact way Michael said it made Jeremy's heart break, and Jeremy melted into the embrace.

A few days later, Jeremy woke up to Michael's face.

"Dude, wake up. You were having a nightmare."

"Sorry to wake you," Jeremy said, wiping tears from his face. "I have these sometimes."

"Me too," said Michael. He frowned for a moment, before smiling and rushing over to his own cot.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm fixing the problem."

Michael pushed his cot flush to Jeremy's, and flopped down onto it. Jeremy laughed.

"C'mere," Michael said, grinning.

"If you kick I'm making you leave the bed," said Jeremy, lying down next to Michael. Michael pulled him close, and after Jeremy had calmed down from Michael nuzzling into his collarbone, he had the most restful sleep he had had in a long time.

Pretty soon, there was pretty much no times where they WEREN'T touching. Michael's affectionate touch had almost become a part of Jeremy, and he missed it when it was gone. Michael had soft skin, and he smelled nice, even though the soap in the showers smelled kind of bad. And every time Michael touched him, it felt like the atoms that made him up and the atoms that made Jeremy up were dancing in perfect harmony.

The days went on, and Jeremy thought, every morning, when he saw the long beautiful eyelashes and the little bubble of drool on Michael's pillow, that if he had to be kidnapped at least it was with Michael. Waking up and seeing his face was the greatest joy in Jeremy's life.

And sometimes Jeremy looked at Michael when they were taking their daily shower. And jacked off when Michael was asleep.

No homo.

Sure, being locked in this room by some scientists sucked. But Michael? Michael was the greatest thing to ever happen to Jeremy. So the days went on, and Jeremy had no idea how much time had past. It felt like no time at all, and an eternity at the same time.

Jeremy and Michael were the only two people in the world. And that was okay.

 

\---

The problem was, is that they weren't the only two people in the world.

A person, wearing scrubs and a surgical mask, along with another masked bodyguard, stepped into the room. The first non-Michael person Jeremy had seen in- weeks? months? It didn't matter.

There was a shift in Michael immediately. He was shaking, and Jeremy could tell he was utterly terrified. He held Jeremy behind him, defensively, and pressed them both into a corner.

Jeremy was already having a panic attack. He might have been crying, or just breathing really hard. He wasn't really sure.

The nurse sighed. "Jeremy Heere. You'll come with us."

Jeremy flinched violently. Michael was beginning to hyperventilate.

"No, no!!" He wailed, holding Jeremy closer. "Please don't take him away! I'll be good, I'll do whatever you want, please-"

The nurse sighed and motioned for the bodyguard to help. The bodyguard knocked back Michael and dragged Jeremy to the door, and the doctor followed.

"JEREMY!!" Michael sobbed, before the steel door slammed shut.

Jeremy felt like he might throw up from fear. He shuffled his feet, until the bodyguard slapped his back and snapped at him to hurry up. He sniffled.

They walked for a while down a long, white hallway.

Jeremy tried to ask what was going to happen, but couldn't form words.

They entered a room.

His eyes darted around, processing the room.

Tubes, monitors, needles...

Jeremy tried to back up, but bumped into the bodyguard.

"Put him on the table," the nurse said, washing their hands. Jeremy didn't even struggle as the bodyguard picked him up and placed him on the table. Jeremy curled into a ball.

Another doctor came in.

"Subject 0.7, Jeremy?"

"Yes. He's been adjusting to life here- we gave him some time to settle before beginning any experimenting."

"Probably smart, we don't want to inflict more trauma on him."

"He's been staying with Subject zero, Michael."

"Good. Any tests done on Subject 0.7 yet?"

"Bloodwork and a study of his normal habits."

"Wonderful. May I see the documents?"

The nurse handed the doctor a file. They read the file quickly, then turned to Jeremy.

"Jeremy, I am Dr. Reyes. I am the one who will be doing most of these procedures with you. So we'll be seeing each other a lot."

Jeremy stared at Dr. Reyes with huge, terrified eyes.

"Alright then." Dr. Reyes turned away, and back to the nurse. "What are we going to be doing on him today?"

"First, we should take his vitals, of course. Then we'll need to test his resistance to being shocked."

Jeremy's fear was so strong, it didn't feel like it was inside of his body. Or maybe he wasn't. Either way, he didn't feel like the situation around him was real. Maybe he was dreaming. He wasn't, though. He knew he wasn't but he was going to pretend it was a dream because he didn't want to believe this was happening. It wasn't. It wasn't happening.

"We won't be doing anything serious today, then?"

"Of course not. It's his first time, after all. The real experiment will be applied next time."

"Alright. Let's get started. Oh- any allergies?"

"No, sir."

"Alright, then."

Jeremy flinched and started crying when Dr. Reyes lifted up a band connected to a machine.

"It's to check blood pressure. Calm down. I haven't even touched you."

Jeremy tried to calm down, but had a hard time stopping his tears. He stayed dead still, as the band tightened painfully around his arm.

The doctor checked the numbered, and nodded. The nurse wrote them down.

They took Jeremy's weight and height, despite the fact that Jeremy was almost too shaky to stand.

"Alright," said Dr. Reyes, finally. "Let's start the shock simulation."

Jeremy felt like his soul had fallen out.

Jeremy's sobbing grew to horrible, sobbing screams.

"Restrain him," said Dr. Reyes, to the bodyguard.

Jeremy was pushed down, rather harshly, onto the bed, and his hands and feet were both strapped down.

Jeremy wished he was dead.

\---

Jeremy was led back to his room, body sometimes still jerking with pain from the shocks. He was sniffling, but not crying- he was all cried out, at this point. He didn't have any more water left to spare. His throat hurt from the screaming.

Still, the sheer relief it was over was overwhelming.

The bodyguard opened the door, and shoved Jeremy back into his room.

He saw Michael immediately.

Michael was curled up in a tiny, pathetic ball, in the same corner Jeremy had left him in. He had tearstains all over his face, and his eyes were red. They were now staring blankly ahead of him. His face looked dead. He looked worse than Jeremy felt.

"Michael," Jeremy said, hoarsely.

Michael's head snapped up, and he noticed Jeremy for the first time. He stood up, shaky, and wobbled towards him.

"Michael?"

Michael reached out to touch Jeremy's cheek, and immediately upon contact, broke down completely.

"N-no, Mikey, don't cry-" Ah, shit. It looked like he did, in fact, have more tears somewhere in the depths of his tear ducts.

Michael pulled Jeremy into a hug, which Jeremy gladly reciprocated.

"You came back," he sobbed, head buried in Jeremy's shoulder.

"Of course I did," Jeremy said, even though he hadn't been so sure he would be able to come back himself.

"I was so scared," said Michael.

"I'm sorry," said Jeremy.

"'S not your fault." Michael pulled his face out of Jeremy's shoulder and wiped his tears. He tugged Jeremy to the beds, and they fell in a heap on them.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked, curling around Jeremy. "What happened?"

Jeremy felt panic rise in his stomach at the mere mention of that day's activities.

"They. They hooked me up to machine, and um. They- they- sh-shocked me, to see how much I could take."

Jeremy took a shaky breath. He could feel the sheer... Emotion, radiating off of Michael in waves. Michael took Jeremey's head in his hands, and looked in his eyes.

"You are so brave."

Out of all of the things Jeremy thought Michael would say, that was not one of them. Jeremy burst into tears AGAIN- and his eyes were really hurting now, damnit.

"Jere, you did so well. I'm so proud of you. That must've been so hard, huh?"

Jeremy felt something inside him break. "It- it was..."

"You are so good! You did it so good! You did so well, I'm so proud of you!"

Jeremy sobbed- this time, no tears came. "I was so scared..."

"I know, I know, but you still did it! You did a really scary thing, and you did it so well! It's all done now, and you did it so good!"

"I-I didn't- I didn't like it..."

"I know you didn't, I know, I'm sorry, but you did everything perfectly! I'm so proud of you! You're so good, and it's all done!"

"Re-really?"

"Yep! You did so good! You did it so well, and it's all done now!"

Jeremy took a deep breath, and buried his head in Michael's chest. Michael began to stroke Jeremy's hair, murmuring how good Jeremy was, and how it was all over.

"I- I." Michael took a deep breath. "You're the most important person in the world to me. You're practically the only person. If you hadn't come back, I'd- I don't know. I'm so sorry they hurt you. You didn't deserve that." Michael sniffled again. Jeremy pulled him closer.

Somehow, they both managed to fall asleep.

\---

Michael kept fawning over Jeremy, and Jeremy honestly couldn't say he minded. It made him feel better about the whole shitty, shitty situation.

They were on edge for days, waiting for someone to come into their room and take Jeremy away again.

Jeremy was almost glad when one night, the loudspeaker instructed him not to eat anything to prepare for a "treatment" the next day.

Michael clearly wasn't though.

He clung to Jeremy all night. Jeremy knew he was having nightmares from the tiny whimpers that kept coming out of his mouth.

The next morning, the nurse and the bodyguard came into the room to take Jeremy.

"Please," Michael sobbed, "Take me instead- I don't mind, I'll be really good- I'll do whatever you need-"

His pleas fell on deaf ears.

"B-bye, Michael," said Jeremy, forcing a smile. "Love you."

The door was slammed shut before Michael could open his mouth to respond.

Jeremy was lead to a new room, one he had never been in before. Filled with chairs, and a single plant on the table.

"I'll come back to get you when everything is ready," the nurse said, and locked the door.

"Come here often, stud?"

Jeremy looked around frantically to see a small guy, lolled out on a chair in the back of the room.

"Who- who're you?"

"Same as you, I imagine. Lab rat."

Looking closer, the guy had dark bags under his eyes, and Jeremy could tell his chill demeanor was a facade.

"Yeah." Jeremy sat down near the guy, but not too close. "I'm Jeremy."

"I'm subject 0.1! Rich."

"Hi."

Rich turned to look at Jeremy. "Since you're here, you're probably waiting for them to put a squip into you."

"What??"

"Oh, I guess you haven't heard about it. Uh... You can ask me whatever you want to know, if you want."

"Um- what's going to happen to me?"

"You're gonna have a surgery."

Rich might as well have punched Jeremy in the face.

"Ah- but after this it'll get a lot better! They just have you like, complete quizzes and interact with other kids and stuff."

Jeremy tried to stop himself from shaking. A SURGERY??

"Wh-what are they gonna do during the surgery?"

"They'll put in something called a squip. They tried doing it in pill form, but that hasn't seemed to work on any of the other kids yet. So right now they gotta put it in directly, like they did to me. And you, now. Lucky you."

Deep breaths, in, out.

"What is a squip??"

"Oh it's like, the whole thing they're doing here. It's this super computer, and it tells you what to do. It's pretty cool- tells you everything. Makes tests super easy, I guess. It's for people who want to get laid, or get into Harvard, or some shit."

Rich looked sympathetically at Jeremy.

"It doesn't hurt that much, bro. It'll be okay."

Jeremy nodded his head. "Why are you here? In the... Operation waiting room."

"My squip's got a bug. They want to check it out."

"Huh."

The door opened again. Jeremy's nurse was back.

"Time to go," said the nurse.

Jeremy stood up, leaving his stomach on the seat. Rich gave him a thumbs up.

"Good luck, bro!"

Jeremy was practically dragged to the operating room. He tried hard not to look at anything, but he still saw knives and needles and he resisted the urge to throw up on the floor.

He slowly climbed onto the operating table, struggling to breathe, and lay down.

Doctor Reyes was there, and so were some other doctors and nurses he hadn't seen before.

An anesthesia mask was placed over Jeremy's face, without warning.

The smell was bitter, but not unbearable. Jeremy realized he couldn't breath. No wait, yes he was. He took a gulp of air. He forced himself to stay still, to not rip off the mask.

He was going to die during the surgery. Jeremy knew it.

Jeremy's thoughts were a mantra of "I don't want to dies" and of Michael's face.

\---

Jeremy didn't remember being knocked out, or anything, really. He tried to sit up.

"Jere, you need to lie down," said a gentle voice, pushing him back down gently.

In a minute, Jeremy had forgotten all about the exchange, and tried to sit up again. His eyes wouldn't work right.

"You need to lie down, you might hurt yourself," said the voice again, pushing him down again, just as gently.

Jeremy forgot yet again, and when the hand pushed him down again, he began to cry.

"Michael," Jeremy blubbered, "I need Michael, Michael, Mikey, where is he?!"

"I'm right here, Jere-Jere." A hand began to stroke Jeremy's hair.

"Where is Michael??"

"I'm right here. I'm right here."

"Michael, I wanna... Michael..."

"I'm right here."

Jeremy fell asleep again.

\---

Jeremy woke up for real a few hours later, with a splitting headache. Michael was sleeping, holding Jeremy's hand as he sat next to the bed.

"Mikey," Jeremy whispered, but Michael was still up in a flash, a false peppy smile on his face contrasted by the dark bags under his eyes.

"Jeremy! You're awake!"

Jeremy nodded, then flinched when the back of the heck gave him a flash of pain.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like shit."

Michael nodded. "Understandable... They told me you went through surgery."

Jeremy sighed. "Yeah. They put this thing called a squip into me. Apparently it's a computer that tells you what to do."

"What's... What's it like?"

"I dunno. I guess it hasn't done anything yet. Or it just doesn't work. Which would suck because i just went through a whole surgery for nothing."

Michael nodded, eyes distance.

"Jeremy, I'm sorry."

"What? What for?"

"I couldn't do anything to prevent this- I couldn't protect you."

"What are you talking about? There was nothing you could've done!"

"I should've done more to try to stop them when they first took you-"

"Michael literally none of this is your fault, okay? I know you did everything you could."

Michael nodded, and wiped away some tears. "I just... I can't handle my favorite person getting hurt like this."

Jeremy grinned. "Aw! You're my favorite person too!!"

Michael grinned at him, lopsidedly. "Is it weally twue, I'm you're faaaavowite pewson?????"

Jeremy snorted, and shoved Michael gently. "Yeah. And you always will be."

Michael's smile was warm, and it made Jeremy feel safe enough to fall asleep again.

\---

They took out the ivs, and stopped drawing blood every two hours after about a week. Jeremy still felt utterly shitty, constantly drifting in and out of consciousness. Michael had to help Jeremy use a bedpan until the pain was manageable enough for Michael to help Jeremy to the toilet. It was humiliating. Jeremy felt like shit. Seven days of laying in your own sweat and piss will do that to ya.

They came to get him as soon as he could walk on his own.

Michael protested, of course. But like always, he was ignored and Jeremy was dragged to another room.

Jeremy sat down, already queasy from more movement than he'd had in three days. He yawned.

"Jeremy, we are now going to turn on your squip," said Dr. Reyes, back turned to Jeremy. Jeremy wondered when he got here. He didn't fully process what was being said, still half asleep.

Dr. Reyes opened his laptop, and typed something on it.

Jeremy was overcome with the worse pain he'd ever experienced in his entire life.

"Calibration in progress. Please excuse some mild discomfort."

Through the haze, Jeremy saw Dr. Reyes writing something on a notepad.

"PLeASE," Jeremy forced out, "I CAn'T HANDLE THIS MAKE IT STOPPpP-"

"Calibration complete. Access procedure initiated."

The pain stopped, and Jeremy was able to breathe again.

"Th-thank you-"

"Discomfort level may increase."

The pain tripled, and Jeremy's other senses cut out. All he knew was the pure, utter agony that was coursing through his body and settling in his bones.

"Accessing: neural memory. Accessing: muscle memory. Access procedure: complete. Subject zero point seven. Jeremy... Welcome to your Super Quantum Intel Unit Processor. Your Squip."

The pain was gone, leaving only an emptiness. Jeremy blinked at the other man in the room.

"What do you see?" said Dr. Reyes. "Just so you know, I am the only other person in this room."

Jeremy regained his breath. "You look like the guy who kidnapped me."

"I resemble the president of this organization."

"Fantastic. Squip, connect to my computer."

"Up, up, down, down, left right A."

Dr. Reyes blocked Jeremy's view of the laptop. "Great. Now, let's perform a few tests." He typed something into the computer.

"Stand up," said the squip.

Jeremy obeyed, somewhat confused.

"Turn around three times. Count to ten. Sit back down."

Jeremy continued to do what the squip said, until Dr. Reyes turned around, and clapped his hands.

"Wonderful! Alright, just one more function to check out. Negative reinforcement check?"

The squip shocked Jeremy, making Jeremy scream in pain.

"Perfect!" Dr. Reyes smiled gleefully, and turned to his laptop. He waved Jeremy away. "You can go."

"I- I can't go yet, the nurse isn't here..."

"Oh, don't worry about that. With the squip you're allowed to go pretty much anywhere alone. It opens any door here, too."

"I can also shut down your body completely if you exit the premises," the squip said helpfully.

"Oh..."

The squip opened the door, and showed Jeremy out.

The squip directed Jeremy back to his room, and opened the heavy steel door for him. Jeremy entered, and looked around for Michael.

"Subject Zero has been... moved. You will now be rooming alone. Don't give me that look- it's only temporary."

Jeremy felt like throwing up.

\---

"The answer is 2036.9872."

"Turn left here."

"Tell her she's pretty."

The squip wasn't that bad, Jeremy supposed. The tests were easy, and as long as he did what the squip said, he didn't get shocked.

Jeremy missed Michael.

The squip told Jeremy to forget about him. Michael was not helpful to achieving their goals.

He liked the other kids well enough. The squip decided he and a girl called Christine would make a good match. Rich was nice to him. Brooke was sweet.

They were all nice, but they weren't Michael.

Jeremy was worried about Michael. This isolation was probably killing him.

Jeremy tried to assure himself everything was fine. But when he slept, the space next to him was cold.

\---

"Jeremy."

"Mmmmpft."

"Wake up, Jeremiah."

"Nnnooo, five more minutes, Mikey."

A shock went through Jeremy's body.

"GEEZ!! Okay, okay, I'm up!!'

"A... fascinating discovery was made today. We are going to be testing it out immediately."

Jeremy followed the squip's instructions, to a large room. The other kids were there, half asleep.

And so was...

"Dr. Reyes?"

Dr. Reyes turned towards Jeremy, and smiled. "Jeremy! Right on time. I'm going to need your help. Give this drink to Jenna, please."

Dr. Reyes handed Jeremy a tiny paper cup. Jeremy passed it to Jenna, somewhat confused.

"Drink it, Jenna."

Jenna sighed, and downed the ingredients in the paper cup.

Her body jolted, and shook.

"Are you okay, Jenna??" Christine asked, panicking slightly as Jenna finally stopped twitching and hung her head.

Jenna's head snapped up. The other kids gasped as her eyes glowed a neon blue.

"Up up down down left right A," said Jeremy's squip, and Jenna snapped to attention. "...Fantastic."

"Now," said Dr. Reyes, "Who else wants to try it?"

Brooke's eyes fluttered open. "Hmm... What? Sure, I'll have a drink."

She grabbed a cup and downed it, not noticing Chloe's horrified face.

"Ohh, Cloe, this is amazing," Brooke gushed after she had stopped jerking around. "You try it too.."

"B-Brooke!" Chloe said, as Brooke forced another cup down Chloe's throat.

Christine began to hyperventilate. "No, no NO!! I don't want that! Please don't make me?"

Jeremy sighed. "We're captives here, Christine. We don't really have much of a choice-"

"Jenna. Force Miss Christine here to drink this, will you?"

Christine tried to scramble again, but Jenna was faster. She pinned Christine down roughly, and poured it down her throat as Christine wailed. Jeremy watched, frozen.

"What the fuck," said Jake, backing away. "What are you doing??"

"Activating your squips, of course," said Dr. Reyes. "Who would've thought that the key to kickstarting their pills would be as simple as drinking some Mountain Dew?"

"You're- you're-"

"Why don't you, Rich, persuade Jake here to drink the soda?"

Jeremy watched in utter horror as Rich jumped onto Jake's back.

"Why- why are they acting like they're mind controlled??" Jeremy began to panic.

Dr. Reyes turned to Jeremy and frowned. "Why aren't you?"

"What-"

"Ah. Of course." The squip took over Jeremy's body, suddenly, not giving Jeremy enough time to think. "That's better. "


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael makes an entrance

Michael Mell was kidnapped at age 15, when he tried to buy Mountain Dew Red in the back room at a Spenser's Gifts. 

He had just tried to buy his old-ass soda, when suddenly he was being held at gunpoint and his mouth covered with a damp rag.

He woke up in his new home shortly after. 

Michael knew exactly what had happened. Well, he knew he was kidnapped. He had been warned about it before, seeing as he had (very) rich parents. But he didn't get returned to annoyed parents a few days later who told him the money from his ransom was coming from his collage fund, like he thought would happen. 

No one ever came. 

Isolation is one of the most crushing things a person can bare. Add it to painful boredom, and the pain doubles. 

He lay on his bed, mostly. Talked to himself. Tried to figure out a way to get out. 

Sleep was a refuge. 

Some days, he was taken out of his cell. Haircuts, checkups, bloodwork. These were few and far between. Most days Michael just sat there, alone. The days blended together like he was in a car, looking out, going fast. But at the same time, each minute of every day lasted an hour or years. 

He pieced together that he was the "Problem Child," and that he was "the control." The doctors and scientists didn't hold him in particularly high regards, that much he could tell.

The doctors and nurses never talked to him, though. Not like another person. 

The same day over and over. It makes one so horribly, desperately tired, and no amount of sleep or rest will cure it. 

Sometimes Michael tore out chunks of his own hair, just to feel something. 

They sometimes punished him when they decided he was acting up. Backtalk, trying to escape, struggling. Sometimes they took away his privileges- food, showering, light. Sometimes they would just beat or shock him into submission. Michael didn't really care. 

The food they gave him- same thing, every time, the perfect balance of food groups for a young boy. It made him want to vomit. Sometimes he did. Sometimes he didn't eat. 

Michael's thoughts were always running together, now. It was like his whole body just didn't care anymore. He knew the room perfectly, by now. He knew if a single dust speck had been moved. 

He had given up on feeling scared. Now he just felt bored. And utterly alone. 

One day, he woke up, and realized he was never going to be able to leave this place, and he sobbed. This was his forever. No end. He sobbed until he was empty. He didn't have anything else inside of him. He was a shell. 

There was no point in living anymore. 

The next time his food came, Michael Mell, age 16, plunged his knife into his arms and passed out. 

\---

His eyes fluttered open. He wasn't in his room, he realized immediately. He tried to sit up. 

A nurse slapped him across the face. 

"You almost DIED, you fucking idiot!" She screamed, puncturing each word with another slap. Michael took it quietly. 

"What do you have to say for yourself??"

Michael looked at her blankly. "Why didn't you let me die?"

"Wha- what?"

"Why didn't you let me die? You're all a bunch of fucking demons. Denying me the one right I have? The right to die?" Michael scoffed. "Guess I don't have that either, then."

The nurse stared at him in shock. 

"Maybe I died before I came here, and this is hell," Michael continued. "Just kidding. Hell would be so much better than this."

The nurse still stared at him. Michael almost laughed. 

"I wish I was dead. I wish I was dead. I wish I was-"

The nurse slapped him in the face again. 

"Shut the FUCK up," she said. "You have no idea how lucky you are."

Michael was connected to a bunch of tubes, body aching, doctors scuttling about. He wasn't allowed to move a muscle. 

Eventually, he was well enough to go back to his room. 

But before he went, someone came up to him.

"Subject zero. Michael."

Michael didn't answer. Just stared up at them. 

"We have decided that complete isolation with nothing to do was unhealthy. We apologize. We don't ever do this, but we have decided to return one of your personal items."

His iPod and headphones.

"T-thank you," Michael said, holding the headphones like they were made of sold gold. "Thank you so much."

He couldn't stop thanking them- it was pathetic. They had kidnapped him, drove him to suicide- but right now, he had never felt so grateful to anyone in the entire world. 

Michael listened to it constantly. It was the only spot of color in the white, sterile room. 

His only reason to live, until he met Jeremy. 

\---

Sweet, beautiful, perfect Jeremy. The light of his life. The only good thing to ever come out of this shitty fucking hellhole. 

Jeremy was shoved into the room, unconscious and bruised. Michael stared at him, slightly afraid. 

He was wearing a hospital gown like Michael. 

Michael fought the elated feelings growing in his chest and he moved Jeremy to a cot. 

When Jeremy opened his eyes for the first time, Michael Mell, age 17, fell in love instantly.

Beautiful brown eyes. Beautiful brown hair. The most wonderful smile anyone had ever seen. The most beautiful voice. He liked video games, and he liked Michael!

Being with Jeremy was like heaven on earth. Life seemed almost worth living again. 

When they hurt Jeremy, Michael's heart broke. Jeremy was so fragile- and Michael needed to protect him. He was the only person who would, after all. All he wanted was to hold Jeremy, and not let anyone hurt him ever again. 

When Jeremy was taken away, all of Michael's fight left his body. Was this some kind of new punishment? He didn't have enough energy to drown himself in the toilet. He sat there, dead inside. 

His will to live returned with Jeremy. 

But Michael knew that from then on, things would only get worse. He tried to stay positive- he really did- but in the end, he was right. 

Everything was terrible, and living was painful.

\---

Jeremy came back, the first time he'd been out since his surgery. 

"Jeremy!" Michael said, pretending like his usual routine wasn't cry and wait for Jeremy to come back. "How are you feeling? They shouldn't have take you out so soon-"

Something was wrong. 

"Michael?"

"I'm right here," said Michael, like after he had woken up. "I'm right here."

But Jeremy couldn't see Michael. He looked through him. No matter what Michael did, Jeremy couldn't feel or hear or see Michael anymore.

Michael wanted to die. 

But he loved Jeremy more than he wanted to die, so he supposed he couldn't die yet. 

 

\---

It was days and days of watching Jeremy in front of him, unable to touch. He left for tests and experiments, and even though he couldn't hear Michael, Michael always greeted him when he came back. 

No one saw Michael any more. Even the doctors. 

They forgot more often than not to bring him food, even. 

It was early in the morning when Michael heard Jeremy say his name. Michael jumped up- could Jeremy see him again?? 

"Jeremy?" 

Jeremy stood up and left the room. 

Michael didn't stop to think as he followed Jeremy out. 

The minute both his feet were planted on the ground outside of his room, he realized what he had just done. 

He covered his mouth to hold in a shriek. 

But still- he had come out of his room for a reason, and no one was around. He followed Jeremy to a door, which was slammed in his face. 

The door wasn't soundproof, and Michael felt true terror in his gut as he realized what was happening to Jeremy. 

He ran away from the door. He needed to fine a way to fix Jeremy! 

He walked and walked the unfamiliar hallways. No one stopped him. 

It was a bit surprising to Michael just how invisible he really was. 

Sure, he knew that Jeremy couldn't see him, and the thought made him want to die, but the scientists forgetting about him? That was surprising. 

He wasn't the most important kid, sure, and sometimes they forgot to feed him, and sometimes the power in his room would go out for days at a time-

No, scratch that. This wasn't surprising at all. 

But it was good.

He had no idea where he was going- everything was white and looked exactly the same. For all he knew, he was walking in circles. 

He didn't even know what he was looking for. 

\---

Michael bounded into the Spencer's Gifts, grinning. His Mountain Dew Red had come in! His smile fell off his face as he realized his usual guy wasn't at the counter. 

"Michael Mell, right?" said the new guy. "Don't worry, Jared told me to give you the soda."

Michael's smile returned, and he nodded. He was so excited! The soda was discontinued in the 90s! It was so cool!

"Follow me," the new guy said, and lead Michael into the back room. 

Michael turned around to look at the shelves, excited. "So, where is it?"

Silence.

Michael turned around to ask again, to see a gun pointed in his face. 

Michael was so shocked, he almost burst out laughing. 

"Uh, dude, if you want my money, you can have it, but I don't have that much on me-"

"Michael Mell." 

Michael shut up. 

"How did you know about Mountain Dew Red?"

Michael's mouth fell dry. "Uh-"

"You didn't think you could just waltz in and try to ruin everything we've worked for until now, did you? You're just a kid."

Michael shook his head. "No- no! I didn't think that! I don't know what you're talking about!"

The man holding the gun scoffed. "Yeah, right. You ordered Mountain Dew Red "just cause". Well, it doesn't matter anymore. You're not going to stop anything."

Someone grabbed Michael from behind, and a rag covered Michael's mouth and nose. 

\---

Mountain Dew Red. The doctor who had talked to Jeremy had mentioned Mountain Dew turned the squip thing on- Mountain Dew Red turned it off!!!!

That was why they took Michael!

Everything in Michael's pathetic little life made sense.

There had to be some on the premises, Michael was positive- he just had to find it. 

\---

Jeremy was so tired.

But it was an almost pleasant kind of tired, like the kind of ache you get after you've exercised, or the tired you feel when you wake up in the morning and realize you have a whole other hour to sleep. 

Jeremy felt like he was floating. 

He wasn't alone in the haze. There was Christine. Brooke. Rich. Jenna. Jake. Chloe. 

He smiled at them, and they smiled back. 

They were floating, Jeremy realized. Christine's body was moving through the air like a dancer, lazy and free. Brooke's hair floated upwards, and she giggled. 

Jenna was lonely. Jeremy didn't know how he knew that. He floated over to her, and so did the others, surrounding her and cooing at her. Jenna's disease melted away. 

Jeremy felt completely happy for the first time in months. 

Wait, no he wasn't. 

Michael wasn't here. 

Jeremy's emotions overtook him immediately. He was so happy, but Michael wasn't there! He couldn't be truly happy if Michael was still sad. 

Jeremy could feel everyone else's worry directed towards him. 

"Jeremy?" said Christine, worried. "Jeremy?"

"I'm sure your boyfriend will be here soon," said Rich. 

Jeremy felt like they were speaking through water. 

"JEREMY!!"

Jeremy was snapped to reality, seeing through the squip's- HIS- eyes again. 

Michael was standing at the door, breathing heavily. 

Jeremy was SO HAPPY to see Michael! Michael could join the group now! He hadn't seen Michael in so long, he hadn't see him in so long but now he was there!! 

"Jeremy! I got something- Drink this!" 

Michael came running towards him, holding up a bottle of Mountain Dew Red. 

"I don't fucking think so," said Dr. Reyes. He raised a walkie-talkie to his mouth. "Mr. President, someone wasn't watching the problem child."

Michael was trying to shove the Mountain Dew Red down Jeremy's throat, but the Squip still had control over Jeremy's body. He dodged perfectly. 

Jeremy was confused. What was Michael DOING?

A awful, familiar voice boomed through the room, making everyone freeze and turn towards the source. 

"Dr. Reyes. You seriously couldn't contain eight children?" The man who had kidnapped Jeremy shook his head. "Honestly, I expected better."

"It was fine until SUBJECT ZERO came in. I told you, we should've just let him die when he tried to off himself last year-"

The president laughed and held up a hand. "Alright, alright- you're getting your wish, Reyes. I suppose you're right- he was always more trouble than he was worth." 

Jeremy's blood ran cold. 

"Subject zero point seven. Kill Michael Mell." 

Michael, frozen for the duration of the conversation, began to back away from Jeremy, clutching the bottle to his chest. 

"Jer- Jeremy?"

The squip darted forwards, hands outstretched. Michael let out a little squeak that Jeremy would fine adorable in any other situation. 

Jeremy hadn't felt this afraid in his entire whole life. Not when he was kidnapped, not the first time he got his blood drawn, not when he went under for his surgery. 

"Jeremy, please! Stop!" 

Michael was dodging surprisingly well- but unfortunately, he was only human. The squip dug his fingers into Michael's throat. 

The president didn't care enough to continue watching, walking over to talk to Dr. Reyes. 

"Jeremy- plea-se-"

The squip knocked Michael to the floor, straddling him. Michael tried to breath. 

"I know you're in there, Jere-j-he-"

Jeremy struggled to regain control of his body, but it WOULDN'T WORK!!

Michael looked up at him, smiling as he took shallow breathes. He wasn't struggling.

"FIGHT BACK!" Jeremy managed to force out. 

"Oh, Jere... I'm not gonna hurt you." 

Tears began to fight their way out of Jeremey's eyes, even though the squip tried to stop them. 

"Michael!!"

"Hey, did I ever tell you how much I wanted to die, like, all the time?" 

The squip tightened his fingers. Jeremy's nose ran. 

"Funny how I finally found something to live for, and only then I'm allowed to die. Heh..."

Michael coughed, face becoming blue. 

"I love you Jeremy." 

That was it. Jeremy took all the strength he had in his soul, the strength of his love for Michael- and forced himself to regain control of his body. He ripped the fingers from Michael's neck, grabbed the bottle- Michael had wanted him to drink it- and forced it down his throat. 

A pain worse than the one from the time when the squip was activated wracked through his whole body. He faintly heard the other kids screaming, and the squip screaming at him.

Then the pain mercifully ended, and so did everything else.

\---

Michael had to GET OUT OF THERE, RIGHT NOW, if he wanted to get Jeremy out of there. He pressed a kiss to Jeremy's forehead, quickly, and ran out amongst the ruckus of the screaming. 

He prayed Jeremy would be alright.

Alarms blared throughout the laboratory, as Michael ran. He barreled through nurses and doctors and scientists, not stopping for anything. 

Somehow, Michael managed to get out. The first stroke of luck he'd had in his life. Michael Mell, age 18, saw the sun again for the first time in three years. 

He wondered if anyone was following him. 

He didn't stop running when he got outside. He ran through the parking lot, and the woods, and onto a road, even though his feet screamed to stop and he didn't have shoes. 

"Call 911," Michael said, to a concerned person who had pulled over for him. "Jeremy- I need to-"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait!

Jeremy's eyes fluttered open. Ah. He was back in his room. 

A man was on top of him, suddenly, crushing him. Jeremy began to panic. 

"No!! MICHAEL!!" Jeremy screamed, automatically. Oh, wait, Michael wasn't rooming with him anymore-

"Get OFF of him," Michael growled. Jeremy relaxed immediately. Maybe the squip was just a bad dream. The man on top of him pulled away. 

Michael's arms were wrapped around him. "It's alright, Jere-Jere. I'm right here." 

Jeremy's breathing slowed down quickly. He smiled groggily. 

"I'm sorry- I didn't mean to upset-"

Jeremy knew that voice. 

"Dad?"

Jeremy's father smiled down at him, face covered with tears. "Hey, son. I missed you." 

"Dad!!" 

Jeremy sat up too quickly, excited, and winced. 

"Careful, careful," Michael said, helping Jeremy get comfortable. 

Jeremy blinked. "What's going on?" 

Michael grinned. "I got us out!" 

"Are you alright?" Jeremy's father butted in. "Hurt anywhere??"

Jeremy bit his lip. "Dad, how long was I gone?"

He heard Mr. Heere sigh. 

"Just under three months." 

Jeremy felt dizzy. Two months?? He'd been gone for two fucking months? It had felt like years- he felt cheated, somehow. It had felt like forever. 

"Oh," said Jeremy.

"I'm sorry I couldn't find you sooner, Jeremy." 

"Dad, don't worry! It's not your fault!"

Mr. Heere sighed again. He looked exhausted. "Still."

"What about the others?"

"They're fine. They're in different rooms than us."

Jeremy nodded, and leaned back. It felt like the lab was just a bad dream at this point. Or he was still back at it. He wasn't sure. His thoughts were foggy. 

A nurse came in, and both Michael and Jeremy tensed.

"Hello," she said, smiling. "Jeremy Heere and Michael Mell, right?"

"Subject zero," said Michael automatically. He pointed to Jeremy. "Subject 0.7."

Mr. Heere and the nurse both looked slightly horrified. 

"Ah, well, I'm going to have to draw both of your blood..."

Mr. Heere turned to the nurse. "Jeremy is terrified of needles, so-"

Jeremy held out his left arm. 

"This vane is best," he said, pointing. "It comes out the fastest."

Mr. Heere gagged into the sink.

\---

Michael!!" a woman called. A man followed her in. 

"Mom? Dad?" said Michael. "Hey." 

"We've missed you," said the dad, voice carefully level. 

"It was three whole years! We thought you were dead!" 

Michael laughed. "Not for lack of trying, I assure you." 

"What?" 

"Because I tried to kill myself when I was there."

Michael's parents stared at him. Michael didn't seem to notice the tense air he had created. 

"What did they. Do to you? That made you want to die?" His mother said, eventually. 

"Oh, you know." Michael waved his hand, causally. "Complete and utter isolation and nothing to do. It wasn't that bad. They gave me back my iPod because of it. Anyway, Jeremy had it way worse."

Mr. Heere tensed. 

"No I didn't," Jeremy protested. "You were probably treated even worse than me." 

"Don't be ridiculous, Jeremy. They put a computer in your brain in a surgery." 

"What?" Mr. Heere yelped, horrified. 

"Honestly! You weren't even used to it like I was." Michael shook his head. "You had it way worse." 

Jeremy sighed dramatically, hand drifting over to touch the back of his neck. He felt the piece of metal under his scar. He held in a shutter.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be very glad to go home," said Michael's mother, forcing a smile. 

"Oh! That reminds me. I'm not going home." 

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not going home. I'm not leaving Jeremy. I'll stay wherever he does." 

"Listen," said Michael's father, "Just because your life stopped when you got kidnapped, doesn't mean you can just-"

Michael laughed. "Oh, it didn't stop. It ended. I don't have a life anymore. In fact, I'm barely a person." 

"Michael, you're a person!" Jeremy cried. 

"Don't be silly, Jeremy. They took that right away from me a long time ago. I'm just..." Michael pouted, trying to find his words. "I'm nothing." 

"You're not nothing," said Jeremy. 

"I'm only something when you're around, Jeremy." Michael smiled at his parents. "So I'll stay with Jeremy." 

"Sweetie, you can't just... Intrude, on this other family-" 

"I'm not leaving Michael either," Jeremy blurt out. 

Michael's parents looked at Mr. Heere, who laughed nervously. "I really don't mind. If Jeremy wants him around, I have no issues with it. He DID save my son after all." 

"But Michael, don't you miss us?" asked Michael's mother. 

"You said yourself, you thought I died. You probably already sold all my things. Moved on." 

The look on his parent's faces confirmed it. 

"I'll still visit, and stuff. But you were right. Your son... YOUR son died a long time ago. It's better if you just move on." 

\---

Both Jeremy and Michael got sick, a few days after they got home. 

Jeremy's sickness wasn't too bad, after Michael soothed him into realizing it wasn't the squip doing it to punish him. His immune system had always been strong, and he got better quickly.

Michael, however. 

Michael hadn't gotten sick in three years.

Michael was delirious, and Jeremy was horrified. Michael was so sick, and he didn't take to it well. 

"I'm not really here," said Michael, matter-of-factly. "I'm back in my room at the lab. I'm probably having a dream. Or I'm in a coma. Either way, I never really left."

Jeremy tensed. "Of course this is real, Michael."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Of course you would say that, dream Jeremy."

"Son," said Mr. Heere, slowly, wringing out a washcloth to put on Michael's forehead, "Why don't you think this is real?"

"It hurts too much. I'm never getting out of that fucking lab," said Michael, calmly. "I'll be there forever."

Jeremy was on the edge of hysteria. "Michael, that's not true..."

"Hm," Michael said, uninterested. "If I'm luckily I'll die before I wake up. Or maybe I never will. Wouldn't that be nice?" 

Jeremy stared at Michael.

"This is a nice dream. I don't want to wake up."

"You don't have to," said Jeremy. "It's not a dream."

Michael stared at his fingers. "This is a really realistic dream. I'm impressed." 

"It's not a dream, son," said Mr. Heere. 

Michael didn't look at him, and leaned back. "I really hope I die before I wake up."

Michael got even less lucid every day. He whined and cried, and begged both Jeremy and Mr. Heere to make the pain stop. He was constantly vomiting and he could barely take a sip of water because of the pain his throat was in. 

It took two weeks for Michael to even start recovering. Jeremy didn't leave his side for a minute. 

\---

Michael was overwhelmed by his new surrounding. 

There were so many things he could do. All around him were books and music and computers and Tvs. 

He didn't do any of that, though. 

He sat in a corner in Jeremy's room, listening to his iPod. Or he quietly followed Jeremy around the house, taking in the scenery. 

He barely talked, now. He had to map each part of the house, check for escape routes, make sure not a dust speck was out of place. But there was so much. It took forever.

Jeremy felt the same, he could tell. They stayed in Jeremy's room in silence, eyes darting around and body on high alert. 

"Michael," said Jeremy one day, quietly. 

"Hm?"

"Do you want to play a video game with me?" 

Michael did, in fact, want to play a game. Panic still rose in his stomach. He forced it down. 

Jeremy quietly set up the game, and they played Apocalypse of the Damned, until they beat the first level together. 

Michael's brain was in overdrive, storing the new information and analyzing it. He felt light, but his head felt about to burst. 

He babbled to Jeremy about the game until he broke down. Random information about the game that playing had brought back. It was so much. But he was so happy. 

Jeremy smiled, his first real smile in a while. They played another level the next day, and Michael felt a little less overwhelmed.

\---

Michael hated adults, Mr. Heere noticed. 

He didn't trust anyone but Jeremy, but he HATED adults. Not Mr. Heere- he seemed to be the only adult Michael almost liked- but every single other adult, Michael hated with a burning passion. 

Including Jeremy's mother. 

"Jeremy!" she called, getting out of her taxi and running towards him. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" 

She wrapped a panicked Jeremy in a tight hug. Jeremy began to breathe a little faster. Mr. Heere wanted to stop her, push her away from his son, -can't you see he's traumatized?- but he didn't, because he didn't want the happy look on her face to melt away into something ugly and horrifying. For Jeremy's sake. 

Jeremy let out a little whimper. Michael looked murderous. Mr. Heere almost laughed. 

"Stop touching him," Michael said. "He doesn't like it." 

Mr. Heere telepathically sent Michael his thanks. 

Jeremy's mother pulled away, her hands still on Jeremy's shoulders. 

"Who are you?"

"I said to stop touching him," Michael said, and pushed her away from Jeremy. Mr. Heere was surprised at how well Michael was showing restraint. Jeremy clung to Michael like a life preserver.

Jeremy's mother's lips curled in disgust. 

"This is Michael," Mr. Heere butted in. "He and Jeremy were together during... the whole... thing." 

Her face went back to a false sympathetic look. "Oh, really? You poor thing."

Michael glared at her. Jeremy curled in on himself, before jumping back up to standing straight. He clung to Michael harder. Mr. Heere sighed.

"Why are you here with Jeremy, Michael? Don't you have your own home to go back to?"

"Jeremy is my home," Michael said.

Mr. Heere invited Jeremy's mother into his house, and sat her down in the living room. He felt a pang of guilt as he saw Jeremy sit as far away from her as possible. It wasn't like he could really do anything about his ex-wife, though- making her mad would only serve to traumatize Jeremy further. 

Mr. Heere brought in a tray of crackers and cheese. No one took one. 

"What happened to you in the lab?" Jeremy's mother asked Jeremy, immediately. Mr. Heere cringed. 

"Linda-"

She flashed him a warning look. He shut his mouth. 

"I was kidnapped three years ago," said Michael brightly, despite the fact everyone knew Jeremy's mother was not talking to him. Unlike Jeremy, who hated talking about what he'd been through, he seemed to enjoy talking about it. 

Jeremy's mother frowned at him. Michael continued. 

"I was totally alone. I tried to kill myself, but they wouldn't let me die, which sucked. Also the president interrogated me a couple times. I didn't know what he was talking about so I couldn't answer any of his questions, so he tried to torture it out of me." 

Michael didn't talk about how he was tortured- it usually sent Jeremy into a panic. 

"You know. They were really bad people."

The room was silent. 

"So I think I know a bad person when I see one by now." 

Jeremy's mother left quickly after that. 

"Do something about that Michael," she hissed at Mr. Heere. 

"I will," he said.

He took Michael and Jeremy out for ice cream.

\---

It was hard, sometimes, to remember Michael had had it bad too. 

With Jeremy, it was easy to tell he'd been traumatized- he cried and flinched at the smallest noise. 

But Michael didn't seem bothered at all. He was Jeremy's protector- not a vulnerable child. 

Of course, in the end, that's what he was. 

Mr. Heere was forced to realize this. 

He was taking Michael and Jeremy shopping, to get them new clothes, and Michael new belongings. 

Michael had been playing a video game for hours, trying to win. 

"Come on, Michael," said Mr. Heere. Michael grinned, without looking at him. 

"One sec, I'm almost done!!" 

Mr. Heere shook his head. Jeremy smiled at him apologetically. 

"You said that ten minutes ago, Michael." 

Michael ignored him- there was some sort of employer, apparently. Or whatever he called them. The bad guy. 

"Come on, Michael," Jeremy said. "You've been really excited for this- you don't have to wear dad's old clothes now!"

"I know, I know! Just a minute, hang on!"

"Michael, hurry up...."

"Onnne sec," Michael said. "I'm almost done!!"

"Fine," Mr. Heere said, jokingly. "Me and Jeremy will just go without you, then."

Something in the air turned cold. 

Michael immediately dropped his controller. His avatar was killed and a YOU DIED screen popped up on the television. He had slipped off the sofa, and onto his knees on the floor. 

The look in his eyes made Mr. Heere feel horrified- he had never seen such overwhelming despair in anyone's eyes before. 

Michael half ran, half crawled over to where Jeremy and Mr. Heere were standing, and fell onto his knees again. He reached out his hands, like he wanted to grab Mr. Heere's pant legs, but his hands hovered an inch away, like he was afraid to touch him. 

"Please," Michael said, hyperventilating. "I'll be good, please don't take Jeremy away again-"

Mr. Heere's eyes filled with disgust for the people of the lab, but Michael seemed to take it the wrong way because his breathing and his words both speed up. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't take him, I'll be so good I know I was bad but please don't leave me alone you can do whatever else you want to me but please don't take him- I won't survive it again- please-"

Michael's hand touched Mr. Heere's pant leg, and Mr. Heere jumped back. Michael became hysterical. 

"I"m so sorry please I know I'm not supposed to touch you I promise I wasn't trying to hurt you I promise I promise I wasn't trying to be bad I wasn't I promise I was trying to be good I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'll be good PLEAse-"

Jeremy looked at Mr. Heere with such anger that he felt like he was punched in the gut. Jeremy got down on his knees and pulled Michael close to him. 

"It's alright, It's alright," Jeremy cooed. "I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere."

Michael wasn't able to focus his eyes anymore. He was babbling. 

"You can do whatever you were gonna do to Jeremy to me I promise I won't fight, I promise, I'll be so good and you can do whatever you want to me, please, he's hurt, he's gone through too much you don't understand you can just do it to me, please, please don't take him away I can't be alone I can't leave him you'll hurt him please don't hurt him you can hurt me instead please I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-"

"It's alright, Michael, no one is going to hurt anyone," Jeremy said gently. He took Michael's headphones- they were around his neck, like always- and put them over his ears. 

Mr. Heere's mouth felt dry. 

"Please," Michael tried to plead again. 

"Shh," said Jeremy. "It's alright. I promise I won't leave you."

"I'm sorry," Michael choked out. His eyes were still unfocused. 

"You didn't do anything wrong," Jeremy said. "Here, let's turn on some music- you love your music. What do you want to listen to?" Not expecting an answer, he took Michael's iPod and turned on some playlist. 

"M sorry," Michael said. He wiped his face. "Please.."

"Shh," said Jeremy. "You're right here with me."

"Jeremy," Michael whimpered. He tried to grab at Jeremy, but his hands didn't seem to be working right. Jeremy pulled him closer. 

"I'm right here."

Michael looked so... Small. Mr. Heere felt sick. He wasn't sure what to do- he had never felt so guilty in his entire life. 

Michael seemed a bit more present. He licked his lips. 

"Jeremy," he tried, voice cracking. "I don't like it." 

"I know."

"Jeremy, help, I need- I don't like it, make it stop-"

"I'm right here." 

"Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy- don't leave. Please. M sorry."

"I won't. You're alright. I'm right here." 

Michael was shaking. 

"Michael, son, are you okay? I'm so sorry-"

"I'm bad, bad. Sorry- please-" 

"No, no, Michael, you didn't do anything wrong. I was just joking. I'm sorry."

Michael buried his face in Jeremy's chest. "Jeremy. Jeremy."

"I'm not leaving."

"Is he- will he be alright?" Mr. Heere asked, desperately. 

Jeremy's anger had faded, leaving him looking tired and drained. 

"Maybe we should go shopping tomorrow, dad."

\---

Jeremy shrieked as he was electrocuted by the squip. 

The squip tsked.

"Jeremy, you can't act like that every time I shock you. We both know you can take a much higher voltage than this, so just calm down and take it. If you don't like being shocked just do what I tell you to do."

"Sorry," Jeremy wheezed. 

The shocks began anew, and Jeremy tried to hold his tongue, but it was so painful and-

"Jeremy. Jeremy."

Jeremy's eyes fluttered open. Michael's face was calm and tired. 

"It was just a bad dream, Jeremy."

Jeremy relaxed. The only light came from their charging electronics and the moon shining through the blinds. The darkness surrounded him, comfortingly. 

Jeremy clung to Michael tightly, letting himself come down from the high of his terror. Michael wiped away some tears that must've come out when he was sleeping. 

The bed was comfortable, and the blankets were heavy. So were his eyes. 

"Michael," said Jeremy. 

"Afraid to fall back asleep?"

Jeremy nodded. He let his eyes close. Michael leaned towards him and pressed their lips together. 

They had never really talked about it. The kissing. It just happened. It felt right. Jeremy wondered if it meant they were dating, but at this point, the term "boyfriend" felt silly and unfitting. Their relationship went far beyond that. Lover? Soulmate? In the end, it didn't matter. Jeremy's thoughts about it melted away, as he lazily returned the kiss. It felt so right. His body grew heavy. 

Michael's lips were soft. He didn't push it farther than a soft mouth kiss- he didn't open it, or use tongue. It was a kiss to show affection, to show Jeremy was safe. Soft and slow. Michael's breath was warm, and his smell was comforting. 

Jeremy let out a hum of satisfaction, tension ebbing away. He could feel Michael's smile on his lips. 

Michael pulled away, and buried his face in Jeremy's neck, pulling Jeremy as close to him as possible. His hair tickled Jeremy's chin. By anyone else, he would've had a panic attack by now, with them being so close to his scars, but with Michael, it made him feel even calmer. He yawned, and nuzzled Michael's hair. Michael squeezed him. 

They fell back asleep, and Jeremy didn't dream.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is abiggaynerd.tumblr.com!!
> 
> My friend made some art of this fic and its beautiful please check it out
> 
> http://cactiaremymuses.tumblr.com/post/162838201867/i-really-liked-abiggaynerd-s-fic


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